Minister of Education Reports

The Cost of Raising a Child

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle-income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into $8,896.66 a year, $741.38 a month, or $171.08 a week. That's a mere $24.24 a day! Just over a dollar an hour. Still, you might think the best financial advice says don't have children if you want to be "rich." It is just the opposite. What do your get for your $160,140? 

·         Naming rights. First, middle, and last!

·         Glimpses of God every day.

·         Giggles under the covers every night.

·         More love than your heart can hold.

·         Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.

·         Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.

·         A hand to hold, usually covered with jam.

·         A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, building sandcastles, and skipping down the sidewalk in the pouring rain.

·          Someone to laugh yourself silly with no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

·         For $160,140, you never have to grow up.  You get to finger-paint, carve pumpkins, play hide-and-seek, catch lightning bugs, and never stop believing in miracles.

·         You have an excuse to keep: reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh, watching Saturday morning cartoons,, and wishing on stars.

·         You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

·         For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero for retrieving a kite, removing a splinter, or coaching a winless ball team.

·         You get a front row seat to history to witness the first step, first word, first bra, first date, etc.. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren.

·         You get an education in psychology, nursing, communications, and business that no college can match. In the eyes of a child, you represent what God is like.  You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost!!!